Concealment #9

As fellow travelers on the path of self-reliance, you’ve probably noticed we’re locked in a culture war at the moment. Leveraging justifiable public horror over the murder of 14 school kids and three teachers, those who would strip away our firearms rights are in full attack mode right now. Companies that did business with the NRA have been targeted, and the synthetic outrage machine that is social media has been spun up and pressed into action.We here at team RECOIL haven’t been immune. Kroger, the second largest grocery chain in the country, made the decision that most firearm titles were too scary and offensive to the delicate sensibilities of only a vocal minority of their customers and have yanked them from the shelves.

From our perspective, this is a minor business annoyance. When you’re at the front of the pack, coyotes nip at the heels of those behind you, but for weaker titles, this could mark a significant downturn. Far more important is that meaningful information that was previously easy to obtain will be stigmatized and hidden from view. A casual browser in the supermarket aisle will no longer be able to leaf through a copy on the shelf and find something like our Everyman EDC column, where regular people — citizens like you and me — talk about their decision to be responsible for the safety of themselves and their families.

We’ve seen the same corporate censorship on Facebook and YouTube, which is why we put so much content up on our own website and have our own video platform. The beauty of our republic is embodied by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Corporations and individuals are, of course, free to make decisions regarding the products they stock and the content they host — just as we’re free to decide where we spend our money and time.